On a cold December evening in Colorado Springs, 30-year-old Patrolman Mark Layne Dabling was on duty, having served with the police department for five and a half years. On December 6, 1982, he initiated a traffic stop in the 300 block of West Fillmore. Unbeknownst to him, the driver he pulled over was a dangerous fugitive.
As Officer Dabling was walking back to his patrol car, the driver, Vernon Templeman, a prison escapee from Florida, exited his vehicle from the passenger side armed
with a sawed-off. 44 magnum rifle. Templeman opened fire, shooting Dabling in the back. The shot proved to be fatal, and Officer Dabling later died during surgery at a local hospital. An out-of-state police officer who witnessed the event used Dabling's radio to call for help.
Templeman fled the scene, abandoning his own vehicle and stealing another. A manhunt ensued, and he was apprehended a short time later on Interstate 25, just south of the city. A career criminal, Templeman was subsequently convicted for the murder of Patrolman Dabling and received a life sentence in the Colorado State Penitentiary. In addition to this sentence, he was also facing convictions for murder and first-degree robbery in Kentucky.
